Kelela is the Jerusalem for all members of the Evangelical Church of Indonesia (GIDI), where the first baptism of GIDI members happened on 12 February 1962. Here and on this date my mother and my father were baptized among 7 other persons.

— Sem Karoba.

My father and my mother were the only family baptized. The other 7 persons were only fathers:

1. Ki’marek Karoba Tawy (my father)
2. Lawingga Karoba-Karoba Yikwa (my mother)
3. Yabingga Ningggirik Yikwa (father)
4. Yiawon Pena Yikwa (father)
5. Wuluarek Yikwa (father)
6. Ugwa Kogoya (father)
7. Larerep Wanimbo (father)
8. Emedlugun Uaga (father)
9. Nu’nuk Kuma Pagawak (father)

Both my father and myself call these Yikwa clan as our uncles. They call us Yikwanak, which means, the sons of the Yikwa mothers.

Agun-Agwe in Koteka Tribes

In Koteka Tribes in West Papua highlands, we have fire side and water side of the clans that we call agun-agwe sort of yin-yang pair. In general it is called Wita-Waya pair, wita being the fire, and waya is the water. Literal meaning of “Yikwa” means “Water Opener”, those who normally speak to the water to come out and to stop.

Based on these we can see there are 4 water side persons, including my father; and there are 5 persons from fire side, including my mother. The water side is called Yikwa, and the rest are clans from the fire side.

The fire element is normally expressed in fire. The fire element is usually expressed in heat. Therefore, across Melanesian tribes, we find two clans in pair, where there is no inter-marriage inside the same blood line.

Kelela means “Kedle and La”

The term “Kedle” means string, or rope; and “La”” means “inside” or “in-between”, or “in the middle of”. Therefore, Kedlela, which then called Kelela means in between the string, or inside the string, or in the place where there are so many ropes are found.

KedleLa is related to another similar name in Agamua, Grand Valley area called, “Kedleima”, which means “Kedle” and “Ima”. “Kedle” means string or rope. And “Ima” means river, water, lake, or stream where there are a lot of strings or ropes found.

Previously it is known for battlefield, where clans from the upper streams or mountains were fighting against those on the valleys, below the area.

This very place has now become the battlefield where God’s victory was declared for the first time that Jesus won the battle, and the proof is that 9 persons were baptized for God.

There is a story in the highlands’ clans and tribes, that at one time there was a string connecting the Earth and Sky (Heavens). This is called “Kedle”.

At one incident, this “Kedle” was cut off by a clan, which I cannot mention the name here due to customary rule. Then that was the point of time, when the connections and relationship between heavens and the earth was disconnected forever. Before that, certain people can go up and learn from the beings on the sky and then come back with news and messages. After the cutting of the string, there is no more messages coming down. Life becomes miserable, wars become part of daily life, death becomes a must.

This very incident of string connecting heavens being cut off happened in “Kedleima”. Now in Kedlela, the string is connected back from the heavens to the Earth.

Sem Karoba